Dual qualified: theory and practice working together

Across every sector, Bavaria's companies find qualified young professionals faster: thanks to dual apprenticeships and dual degree programmes.

Germany is one of the countries –alongside Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and the Netherlands – to offer a dual apprenticeship scheme. 60 per cent of all apprenticeships here are involved in the dual system. This has long been seen as a recipe for success internationally, with many countries, from Spain to the USA, copying it. Bavaria also values this close collaboration between theory and practice highly. Companies of all shapes and sizes are highly committed to the scheme, allowing them to benefit from highly qualified specialist staff – often from within the company itself.

Educational partner of Bavaria's economy: hochschule dual

The hochschule dual initiative alone, funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Art, reported around 6,000 students in dual programmes and over 950 companies in 2013, as well as 17 state universities of applied sciences, two church-run universities and the cooperating University of Applied Sciences in Ulm. Services including a large online degree programme advice portal and the "dual studieren in Bayern" roadshow, which targets particular regions, mean that the system is very familiar to both sides – both young people looking to choose a career or degree programme and the companies and businesses looking to employ them.